Curator moves against alleged strippers of pension fund surpluses

According to a Personal Finance report, Mostert says this is the first of a number of actions he intends taking to recover what is likely to be hundreds of millions of rands (including interest) of retirement fund surpluses that have been stripped by employers from various funds. Lifecare and its pension fund were allegedly used to launder the transfer of surplus assets from at least seven retirement funds to employers. Lifecare was an African Oxygen Limited (Afrox) group subsidiary until 2005, when it was partially sold in a major black empowerment deal. In papers filed with the Witwatersrand High Court, Mostert says that the money is owed to the pensioners of the Mitchell Cotts Pension Fund. Mostert claims the fund was unlawfully plundered in a ‘raid’ by the owner of Mitchell Cotts, Roland Bailey and his family, with the complicity and involvement of a number of other parties. These parties included Lifecare and its pension fund, a number of companies registered in the offshore Jersey jurisdiction, Bailey Finansbank and retirement fund administrator Alexander Forbes, which last year was forced to pay back almost R500m in secret profits it had made from funds. Full Personal Finance report